Property
buyers against abolition of CFO
The Sun 09/12/2004
PROPERTY buyers are not in favor of the proposal to abolish the
Certificate of Fitness For Occupation (CFO) for completed housing units on
concerns that it could lead to abuse by developers and lower quality of
houses, according to a survey.
Respondents of the survey said while the abolition of the CFO may ensure
speedy occupation of properties; property developers and result in lower
quality products might abuse it.
In the CH Williams Talhar & Wong CEO Opinion Survey on the Property Sector
2005, which was released yesterday, respondents said the proposed move
would we welcomed by developers as it would reduce bureaucracy as well as
the time and cost to build properties. The survey involved 150
respondents, comprising property developers, consultants, construction
firms, financial institutions, building materials suppliers as well as
plantation and utility services management firms.
In announcing the findings, CH Williams Talhar & Wong
managing director Goh Tian Sui said 74% of the respondents said now was
the right time to move into Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS). But he
said there had not been many REITS deals due to the lack of good assets,
particularly for shopping complexes.
On the outlook for the property market in 2005, respondents were bullish
on the residential sector and expected buying interest in landed
properties to grow next year.
One- third of the respondents believed prices of landed
properties would go up by at least 10%, while more than 50% expected
prices of shop houses/offices to improve next year, against 40% in the
previous survey:
Goh said the respondents also believed foreigners would
continue to show interest in commercial office space and commercial retail
properties next year. This was against their preference for condominiums,
apartments and commercial purpose built offices in 2004, he said.
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